The papers would have us believe that Gael Clichy is a very unhappy man. He’s unhappy with his lot at Arsenal and he’s even more unhappy with his standing in the French squad. He recently expressed his discomfort at having been dropped for France’s mid-week clash with Croatia. All the more galling no doubt considering he was replaced with Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra – a man with few nice things to say about Arsenal. Clichy told reporters:
“I’m not going to lie to you: it’s disappointing, it is no fun, but I knew it was possible. I was prepared.”
No fun indeed. I can’t imagine that Clichy has had much fun at Arsenal over the last month or so. He has overseen his side crash out of three competitions and falter in the Premier League. These difficult times have no doubt added fuel to the fire of the rumours that suggest that Gael Clichy is ready to leave Arsenal. Bad situations sometimes just make one want to get up and run.
According to Tuttosport, Juventus director Fabio Paratici has made his way to London in order to engineer a deal for the Arsenal left-back – a deal that Arsene Wenger is likely to okay should Juve offer enough for his services.
Perhaps it’s time to let Clichy go. Despite his importance to Arsenal over the last couple of seasons, he has a rather frustrating tendency of making costly errors. Over on the right Bacary Sagna has been remarkably consistent – he rarely makes mistakes at the back and has developed a rather tasty cross over the course of the last season. Gael Clichy on the other hand, despite his pace, rarely troubles defences, doesn’t have a good cross and will make the odd mistake at the back.
When you consider that Clichy hasn’t sat down to discuss a new contract (despite there being only a year left on his current one) it’s clear that Clichy’s either seeking a move away from the club or a more lucrative deal. Given Clichy’s performances, it’s important that the club doesn’t let the player hold them to ransom.
It’s an area in which Arsenal need to find some consistency. Kieran Gibbs will be a good player, but I don’t think he’s ready to be Arsenal’s first-choice left-back just yet. Arsenal need to move Clichy on, bring in someone fresh, whilst allowing Gibbs the chance to develop and progress in Carling Cup games and the like.
My only concern with the Juventus deal is how little cash they are willing to stump up for his services. Some sources suggest that Juventus are only offering £5m. For a first-choice left-back at a top-four Premier League club, that simply isn’t good enough. Yet, should Juventus be willing to put their hands in their pocket and pay £14-18m for Clichy’s services, I think most Arsenal fans would be ready to see him leave.
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